Philadelphia crime family

The Philadelphia crime family is an American Mafia family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was founded in 1911. The family is based in South Philadelphia, and it operates in the Delaware Valley and New Jersey; by the 2010s, it had around 60 made members and 100 associates. Under Angelo Bruno's reign from 1959 to 1980, the family enjoyed an era of peace and prosperity, and Bruno preferred traditional rackets such as bookmaking, labor racketeering, and loansharking. Bruno was murdered in 1980 as the result of disputes with his subordinates and territory claims by the Genovese crime family of New York City, and Nicky Scarfo had Bruno and Philip Testa's killers wiped out to clear the way for his accession to power. The family became increasingly involved in narcotics trafficking under Scarfo, and Scarfo had people murdered over moderate disputes. The dramatic rise in violence attracted the attention of law enforcement, and Scarfo and most of his top allies were arrested in 1988. In 1981, the Gambino crime family supported John Stanfa becoming the new boss, but a young generation of mobsters led by Joey Merlino rebelled against Stanfa, leading to another mob war. In 1994, the war ended when Stanfa and most of his supporters were arrested by the FBI. The family was weakened by the RICO Act, but it would remain one of the most active families of the American Mafia.